There are so many fine ways to spread joy. When the days are short and cold, without even a softening layer of snow, it is good policy, survival policy, to seek them out. Here’s one; you’re welcome!
National Dress Up Your Pet Day is coming, but I don’t need a special day for that; I follow Eva Knievel.
Eva is half Chihuahua and half Dachshund, a mix commonly called a chiweenie. She is winsome and snuggly, with large expressive eyes and an innately appealing manner. One of those dogs that likes you on sight. And she looks wonderful in period clothes.
She is also something of a tabula rasa. Via owner and photographer Erin Scott, Eva has appeared in a series of series. The dowager countess in Downton (Dowgton) Abbey. The star of Mad Men. All the major players in Clue (Chew), including Colonel Mustard (she did not like the mustache.) The Wizard of Oz, and not as Toto. As the doomed heroine in a film noir series, complete with fedoras, raincoats, and lobby cards. As Indiana Jones (Bones) in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Bark). In Gilligan’s (Wigglan’s) Island. I have also seen her as the Girl With A Pearl Earring, painted by Vermeer.
Eva has the protean quality of a lead actor. However elaborately costumed and propped, she is always clearly her own appealing self. In one shoot, she appeared with a head full of curlers (“Difficult”, says Scott. “She doesn’t have much of a forehead.”)
Eva, who at just under eight pounds is in similar scale to an American Girl doll, wears friendship bracelets, glasses and hats. Yes, there is a costume wardrobe and prop table in her studio. And she likes it in the light box.
One big week every year is Hallowchiweekie. New look every day! My personal favorite: Eva as the Mummy. Also the Dog Days of Summer series for a calendar, location shots showing her as a golfer, and seated in a diminutive fishing boat with rod, reel, and a tiny catch.
This is partly a story about an artist making her work from things at hand – an agreeable dog model, a regular thrifting habit, an aptitude for building setpieces, an eye for costumes, good photography, and wit. “It tickles me no end,” says Scott. “And it gives people so much joy. That’s the impetus for the work, creating joy. ”
January 14 is National Dress Up Your Pet Day, but you can follow Eva anytime at facebook.com/evawoof. Her page is classified as that of a “public figure”. Totally agree.
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Photo by Erin Scott